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Princess Charlotte, Prince George and Dior set the trends for tots fashion

Social media has developed an obsession with everything that involves the Royals, so when the daughter of Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge attended her first day at Willocks Nursery School dressed in a Spanish-made coat from the firm Marae, and social media went haywire, I decided to explore the latest teenybopper fashions and a multimillion dollar industry.

First of all, I was amazed by how much the business of dressing children stylishly has grown, it has become as relevant as the branding of luxury items for adults.

In a 2016 article about the subject, BOF wrote: Children’s fashion is on the rise. “Back-to-school is not just a time to stock up, but also a time for kids to express themselves. Back-to-school has become their red carpet,” says Andres Dorronsoro, vice president and general manager for Old Navy Kids, which has the third-largest market share of childrenswear brands worldwide. “Kids are more aware of trends than ever before.”

Baby DIOR SS 2018

For DIOR’s latest collection we discover how Monsieur Dior’s childhood was a great source of inspiration for the couturier, and continues to be so for Cordelia de Castellane, Creative Director of Baby Dior.

BabyDior_Collections_AW 17-18

While he may have discovered fashion through his mother’s elegant outfits, he also appreciated the folklore of the carnival costumes in Granville, where he grew up. Fancy dress, evening dresses, dancing, children’s laughter, the countryside, fortune-tellers and gypsy traditions are all happy memories that, with this collection, send us on a journey between Granville, the Camargue and Seville.

Princess Charlotte coat

The princesses coat was created by Amaia which is one of the leading children’s fashion stores on the London scene, and is founded by Amaia (from Spain) and Segolene (from France). The clothes they sell are made using an artisanal process with high quality standards. As the case of this coat of the firm Marae, Villarrín de Campos, who has seen the children of the British Royal family wearing clothes made by the hands of their craftsmen, as was the case of another coat that also led the prince George.

Prince George rocks in a ensemble men get away with everyday.

It’s worth noting that at the high-street level, children’s clothing has begun to imitate adult clothing, as parents’ desire for their children to be “on-trend” has increased and their consumption habits have shifted towards more frequent purchases. Meanwhile, the luxury end of the childrenswear market is growing, fast.

Boosted by the “infiltration of fashion into children’s clothing,” the global children’s market racked up sales of €135.6 billion in 2015, up from €122.1 billion in 2010, according to Bernadette Kissane, an analyst at Euromonitor.

Baby DIOR

The ROyal couple with prince George and princess Charlotte

And while kids clothing only accounts for 12 percent of the overall apparel market, in the last five years, growth in childrenswear has outpaced that of both menswear and womenswear. In 2015, childrenswear sales grew 6 percent, while the men’s and women’s markets each grew 4 percent.